


Young Adults

by ThereWasStillTime



Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith, Strike (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-03 07:47:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21175895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThereWasStillTime/pseuds/ThereWasStillTime
Summary: So, I'm clearly a bit late coming to Fictober but thought it would be good to catch up to try and get me back into writing regularly and finish Inky Seas.The idea is: what if Cormoran and Robin were in a YA novel? So, there will be some crossover with the stories and some divergence.Hope you enjoy it.





	1. “It will be fun, trust me.”

“It will be fun, trust me.” Stephen had said before turning with Martin and Jonathan to face her with expectant, hopeful expressions. 

They had sat snacking on bowls of cereal and hot, buttery slices of toast on a Thursday evening. Their mother would normally have been serving them up sausages and mash if she and their father were not on an anniversary holiday in Italy. It was the first time the Ellacott siblings had ever been left alone to look after themselves, or rather Stephen was supposed to be looking after them. Instead, he was trying to convince her, as the second eldest, that a house party on Saturday night was a good idea.

Robin had known her brothers too well to agree straight away that it was. Her life had been punctuated by them messing up in big dramatic ways. She had been able, so far, to keep at a distance to the fallout of these incidents. But she and Matthew had only been able to spend one night together since they had finished their A-Levels. He had been so sweet to her and she couldn’t wait for them to be together again. Except Matthew was in York for a few days watching cricket with his friends. So, perhaps the party was a good idea, as he would be back that evening. With her brothers otherwise engaged, that gave her and Matthew cover. 

“Okay…” she had agreed but wasn’t able to finish her sentence as Martin jumped up and put her in a headlock while fuzzed her hair up with his fist in his version of a hug, while the other two whooped and cheered. 

Now, days later, she was sat on a sofa surrounded by her friends who were in different states of inebriation or attached to each other’s mouths. Not only was the house filled with their school friends, but Stephen had also invited his University friends to the parent-free house for the weekend and it was now packed with people, dancing, chatting and drinking. Robin had felt separated from the party atmosphere though. Matthew had still not arrived.

“Robin can you stop moping about. You look tragic!” her best friend Hannah teased, a bit worse the wear for all the cheap wine she had consumed.

It was eleven-thirty already, why wasn’t Matthew here yet? Robin wondered: he should have been back from the cricket in York ages ago and he hadn’t messaged her for ages. Robin felt around for her mobile before she remembered leaving it in her room hours ago in a pile of discarded clothes. Matthew would be annoyed if he had texted and she hadn’t answered. Getting up from the sofa she picked up the empty wine bottle, “I’ll just get another bottle”, she didn’t want any of her friends moaning at her for mentioning Matthew again.

Rather than head for the kitchen though, Robin took a turn in the hall towards the stairs. She began to unlock the stair-guard the family used to keep Rowntree and in this case uninvited party guests from going upstairs. But, a dark-haired girl was rushing down the stairs towards her and Robin had to throw herself against the wall to avoid a collision. The girl looked at Robin with a brief but irritated expression at Robin’s inconvenient presence before she continued on her purposeful way. As Robin herself rushed up the stairs, two at a time, the girl’s beautiful, yet angrily exhilarated expression, stayed with her. Robin had never seen the girl before, she must be one of Stephen’s friends from University, she thought. That the girl had felt entitled to come upstairs, even though her brother had told them all it was out-of-bounds, annoyed Robin. 

Her own room was across the wide landing, directly in front of the staircase. Hurrying, Robin was momentarily confused when the door began to open but she didn’t have a chance to think before suddenly someone, very tall and very powerful slammed into her. She fell unalterably backwards into the empty space above the high descent of the stairs.


	2. "Just follow me, I know the area."

Cormoran shouted out, “Jesus Christ!” 

He threw out his long arm towards the flailing girl, missed her hand, grabbed soft flesh and heard her cry out in pain. He persisted in dragging her back to an upright position before she immediately crumpled forward. Cormoran heard her whimpering softly from under the curtain of golden hair that hid her face. He glanced back to the steep staircase before putting one hand on her back and the other under her elbow encouraging her to stand more upright.

“Fuck – sorry,” he said, unsure she had heard him until she lifted her chin and her tear-stained face peeked through her hair. She was very pale. Walking her back into the bedroom he had just come from Cormoran tried to joke her out of her shock, “Here - just follow me, I know the area,” 

She stepped away from him and sat on the bed, her hand clutching her chest and Cormoran realised he had pulled her back up by grabbing her breast. 

Robin looked up at the perpetrator of her assault. He was very tall, with curly dark hair and his burly looks were tarnished with a bruised and cut eye, scratch marks across his cheek and along his thick throat. He was huge like he played rugby or something. She caught her breath realising how lucky she had been not to fall to her death on those stairs. 

“What the hell were you doing in my bedroom anyway?” she asked angrily.

“Yours? Charlotte told me Stephen had said we could stay here…" He shook his head as if realising his words were pointless, his hand in his thick hair.

“Charlotte – who's Charlotte?" Robin's voice broke, "This is my room.” She finally managed to repeat, nothing of the last few minutes was making sense to her.

Cormoran wondered what he could do. He felt sorry for the girl who reminded him in her fragile state of his sister Lucy, but he was also wondering where Charlotte was, “Wait there,” he replied and left the room closing the door quietly behind him.

Finally left alone, Robin rubbed her sore flesh and let the tears flow more freely. She pushed herself on top of her bed, just realising that all her stuff had gone from the top of the bed. She saw it neatly piled up on her chair, the mobile on her dressing table. The door reopened and she looked up to see the stranger re-enter, he was carrying a packet of frozen peas in one hand and a glass of brown liquid in another.

“Here put this over you're…well, where you’re hurt,” he handed the bag over to her awkwardly. The girl took it from him and held it over her left breast, her cheeks pink with embarrassment and pain. 

Robin looked back up at him as he lingered by the edge of her bed.

“Here, drink this, for the shock,” he held out the brown liquid, probably some kind of spirit.

Cormoran looked down at her wary face and realised how this could look, “I promise you there’s nothing in it but whisky, I have a sister your age too,” he passed the glass to his free hand, and held out his right “I’m Corm, Cormoran, I went to Oxford with your brother,”

The girl looked sceptical, but eventually took his hand and shook it, “I’m Robin,”

“Robin, like…” he noticed her eyes roll and stopped himself, “It’s a cool name,” he smiled, holding back from a full grin just yet.

“Never heard of a Cormoran before,” She said in response, although Robin actually did remember hearing Stephen talk about Cormoran. Not because his strange name was very memorable or that his dad was the rock star Johnny Rokeby or due to his mother dying or because he left Oxford to join the army. But, because Stephen had a lot of respect for his University friend. 

“Named after a giant,” he said simply.

“That seems logical,” Robin replied, looking him up and down again, finally, taking the drink out his hand and she downed it in one gulp, although she failed to hide her grimace. She noticed the way that blood was congealing in his scratches even though he seemed oblivious. The pain was starting to wane in her breast and she moved over to the other side of the bed, “Here sit down. You could do with putting this on your eye, you look as if you need it more than me now,” Robin held the bag of gradually warming peas out to him. 

Cormoran raised his eyebrow thinking about where it had just been and winced regretting the habit. When she waved the bag at him impatiently, Cormoran eventually took it and placed it on his eye. He didn’t sit on the bed. So, Robin got up. 

“Sit down,” she said in the same way she ordered the family Labrador, it worked, Cormoran sat down instantly, “I’ll be back with something for your scratches,”.

Robin hesitated for a moment to check that Cormoran, Corm seemed too familiar just yet, stayed in place. He sat with his eyes closed in relief of the cold press of the peas and she turned to leave the room. 

Alone again, Cormoran thought about the argument with Charlotte that had ended with the tussle on the stairs with the girl. He wondered where Charlotte was again, whether tomorrow they would find her at the bottom of one of the nearby peaks or whether she would crash her sports car into a ditch. Or, would she simply drive all night to get back to her ex- Jago Ross, about whom, Cormoran had revealed to Charlotte his suspicions, that she had been cheating with him. Cormoran had evidence too, this wasn't just random paranoia. That had resulted in her leaving him with stinging, bloody welts. This had to be the end between them.

While she had gathered first aid supplies, Robin had come to the realisation that Cormoran’s injuries must have been inflicted on him by the dark-haired beauty, whom, she assumed was Charlotte. The look on the girl’s face had haunted Robin, she couldn't help but be left with the impressions that Charlotte had enjoyed hurting Cormoran. Although Robin was well aware she had to consider whether he had done something to deserve it. Once she had everything, she thought she would need, Robin went to find Stephen. 

She found him with a group of friends outside on the lawn where they had laid down blankets and cushions. The sky was clear and some people, with the smell of weed hung thickly in the air, were pointing in wonderment of the stars. Stephen was with a girl talking. 

“I need to talk to you quickly,” Robin said.

Stephen answered her with a scowl.

“Now,” Robin persisted, “It won’t take a moment,”

Stephen gave an exasperated look to the girl who laughed, and he got up. Robin walked him away from the crowd of people before she began to ask him about Cormoran and Charlotte. When Robin had finished describing the state she had found Cormoran in, Stephen’s face had paled in the moonlight, “Cormoran is a big softy, protective, but a softy. Charlotte, on the other hand…I’ve seen her properly act out, but I didn’t think she would go that far again?”

They both stood silently as the reality sunk in about what had happened. 

“Are you going to take that to him?” Stephen asked, nodding at the medical supplies, “It’s probably best I don’t mention you’ve told me.”

“Obviously." Robin was all too aware of the workings of male pride with three brothers, "But I had to be sure he was…”

“I know,” Stephen put a hand on her shoulder, “You’re safe with him."


	3. "Now! Now you tell me."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, for all the kind comments. We continue. I promise there will be more divergence once setting up the story is over.

For all she knew, Cormoran’s girlfriend had a change of heart and the couple could have been busily reuniting on Robin’s bed, so she softly knocked at the door before pushing it open. He wasn’t in fact even sat down but was examining his freshly cleaned scratch marks. Bent over, nearly double, at her old washbasin under the sloping wall of her ceiling, he said, “Have you got a towel?” 

Robin placed the first aid kit on the mattress and grimaced looking around the now tidy space. She last remembered throwing it into the pile of clothes on the bed. Cormoran gave her an amused look before sweeping the room with his eyes then he walked a few steps over to the radiator where someone had laid the towel, “I thought it was weird Stephen gave me a room that seemed to be in a complete mess,” he teased.

“Well, he told me he was going to give you Mum and Dad’s which is the one next door, so if you ended up here…” She gave him a look to say it was his own fault, “Did you tidy it up?”

“Well, I like my space…organised.”

“So do I!” Robin was affronted, “It was just because I was getting ready.”

He looked her up and down, confused, thinking of all the colourful party dresses he had folded while Charlotte had sat sulking on the bed. Robin was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt.

Reading his mind she said, “Nothing suited me,” and looked away, embarrassed.

Cormoran knew better than to argue, he suspected that the jumper and jeans hid quite a sexy figure but telling this to one of his friends’ younger sisters, just as the girl he loved had walked out, didn’t seem the best decision he could make. So, he changed the subject, “Have you got any Savlon there?” 

Robin sprang into action, and sorted through the bottles, boxes and tubes in the box, “Yep and some TCP.”

“Pass it here then?” Cormoran held out his large hand.

“Sit down, I’ll do it. You barely fit in that corner.” 

He reached the bed in less than a few hesitant steps and sat down warily. His slightly unsymmetrical face was almost level with Robin’s chest, and she felt herself automatically move back. Cormoran registered this, although he did like tall girls and he chastised himself again. Robin focused on finding some cotton wall pads on her dressing table and tipped some TCP straight onto it. 

“Have you diluted it?” Cormoran asked as she stood over him again.

Robin ignored him, she’d cleaned up how many cuts from Rugby for Matthew and her brothers? Surely this rough-tough soldier wasn’t a wimp. She placed the pad over the cut on his brow.

“Shit!” he said.

Robin felt him wince under her fingers, “I’ll mix it with some water next time,”

“Now! Now you listen to me,” he said and under his breath, "There won't be a 'next time',"

Robin laughed at his grumpy expression and reached for a little brown bottle, “Well! Wait until I’ve put the plastic skin on it, then you’ll have something to really cry about,” 

She unscrewed the cap with the distributor attached and gave the bottle to Cormoran to hold. He tried to move so he could read what the label said but Robin her fingertips on his rough chin pulled his face to look back at her. She pushed together the open wound on his face and began to spread the liquid over it. 

“Fuck! What is that?” he almost squeaked. Robin giggled trying not to let it overwhelm her so she messed up what she was doing. His hand had gripped her hip, instinctively pushing her away but she just leant into it. Although, she felt her face flush and she stopped laughing.

“It’ll make sure you don’t scar. Wouldn’t want that beautiful face messed up, would you?” She leant back a little to admire her handy work. 

“What? Any more than it is?” he joked, looking up into Robin’s smiling grey eyes.

“Right, let me do that scratch on your neck,” she held his chin again to angle his throat towards her but Cormoran pulled away, registering the feel of her fingertips accidently brushing his stubble.

“No chance, that stuff’s bloody lethal,” his brow had creased almost into a single line.

She looked down at him with a look of disparagement, “Wait here,”

Robin left the room again and Cormoran sprung up from the bed and over to the mirror. He examined the silvery line that covered the wound. She actually hadn’t done a bad job. Better than the army medics at the boxing fixtures. Robin was the same age as his sister, perhaps slightly younger, but she wasn’t like Lucy at all. Lucy would have run away from anything like this. The only thing she would have stayed for was to harangue Cormoran with insistent questions about what had happened between him and Charlotte this time. He returned to the bed and looked around the room for clues about the golden-haired girl, who had insisted on taking care of him, even though he hadn’t needed it. 

There were pictures of her stuck up on the wall, some with groups of friends and others with a young bloke. He was as young as Robin and very handsome, nothing like him at all. Cormoran dismissed the unwanted thought as he didn’t see it as being at all relevant. Otherwise, the room was very neat if you ignored the memory of the pile of clothes that had covered the bed. She had threaded fairy lights through her ironwork headboard and behind all the posters on her wall, the biggest of some girl group, the room was painted a bright fuchsia pink. From this, she appeared to be a very young, seventeen or eighteen-year-old. To be fair, the room didn’t seem to completely fit her. There was one photo in a frame with Robin in horse-riding gear. He picked it up. These sorts of pictures had become familiar to him once he started going out with Charlotte who had her own version of a photo like this. Unlike Charlotte's picture, in which she posed beautifully serene next to the animal without touching it, Robin's arms were flung around the neck of a white horse that towered over her, nuzzling its nose into her hair. 

The door opened and Robin appeared. She looked at him quizzically, catching him holding the frame but then she smiled, "That's Angus. He's died now though sadly, although, he was a bit of a bugger."

Cormoran laughed at how she pronounced the word. In Robin's hand, she held a half-full, square bottle of Jack Daniels. She scowled as she realised, she had forgotten a glass, then remembered the one she had left on her bedside cabinet. Robin picked it up and went to wash it under the tap. She then filled it with quite a measure of whisky and handed it to him with a perfunctory smile. Cormoran watched her, no, the room definitely didn’t fit. 

He took it from her outreached fingers, “Okay,” he said.


	4. "I know you didn't ask for this."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit more backstory and a new mystery.

With half of what was left of the whisky now gone, Cormoran and Robin sat on the bed, legs stretched out in front of them and their backs against the headboard. Robin’s eyes were on Cormoran’s kit back against the wall and the clothes bag hung on the picture rail.

“So, this is your first leave since your training?”

“Yep. I’m to take up my first position as an RMP Lance Corporal in Cyprus at the end of the month.”

Robin looked impressed and he smiled humbly back a little embarrassed but liking her admiration. 

“So, what will you do with the time?”

“Plan was to go up to Scotland with Charlotte but I’ll probably have to go back to Cornwall after this, now that Mum’s gone,” he was looking down into his empty glass and sounded unenthusiastic. Robin was looking at him, waiting. “My aunt and sister and very over-protective.”

“Of you?” Robin giggled and tried to get the conversation back on to something that was easier for him, “What did your training involve?” 

Again, her interest in his job encouraged him to continue. Charlotte was generally uninterested and was still angry with him for leaving Oxford. To be fair most of his friends were still rather shocked that one of their friends would choose to join up rather than continue with a degree. Only a few got it, Stephen was one of them. That's why he had come here rather than to Nick's whose parents were still worried about him. So, he told Robin all about the driver, investigation and evidence handling training he had done so far.

“You’ve investigated real cases already?” she said in awe.

“Nothing too serious – I want to get into the SBI though, they deal with serious crime,”

“I want to work in as an investigator – the police, probably. Going to study Psychology at University. But I’ve never really told anyone that – about the investigating,” she sounded hesitant, nervous.

Cormoran realised she was bracing herself for his reaction.

“That’s great! You’d be good, calm in a crisis.”

“Really? My brothers teased me when I told them when we were little. Not a job for a girl.”

“I’ve meant plenty of talented military policewomen, they’ve taught me a lot,” he reassured her.

“Well, I could join up," she smiled up at him, "But, I’m not sure what my parents would say about that after…” Robin trailed off and seemed to be lost in thought.

After a few moments, Cormoran felt concerned so he broke her focus by offering Robin the bottle but she shook her hand in refusal.

“No, my boyfriend won’t…on no!” Robin sprung from the bed, how had she forgotten about Matthew and that she was supposed to check her phone, what? An hour ago!

Cormoran watched her rush towards where her phone lay upside down on the dressing table. She’s anxious, he thought to himself and saw her crestfallen face when she looked at the screen.

“Whassamatter?” he asked.

Her face flickered from disappointment to perkiness, “Oh nothing! I just expected a text from Matthew - my boyfriend. He was supposed to be here tonight, but he hasn’t texted me. I just hope nothing has happened to them, they were away in York,”

“They?” Cormoran asked.

“He was watching the cricket with friends over the last few days,”

“You didn’ go?”

“No. I don’t like York.” Her face became serious again, “Has your girlfriend texted you?” 

Cormoran took the last swig of whiskey from the bottle, “No. She won’t. I’s over.”

Robin was caught between wanting to giggle at how Cormoran’s speech had changed accent the more he drank and feeling sorry for him, “Are you hungry? Do you want some food?

“Mmm, better do -” he held up the bottle by way of explanation, “She tol’ me she was pregnant.”

“Oh,” Robin didn’t know what to say, this was out of her comfort zone. Instead, she sat next to him and waited for him to continue.

“But it never added up, so can’t’ve been mine. Then she said it was gone,” telling the story he had told no one else was having the effect of sobering him up faster than food would. Without his mother, there had been no one else to share this with. Yet Robin was easy to talk to. She had a kind face and seemed a very kind person. Robin waited patiently for him to go on, “Figured she was back with her ex, Jago bloody Ross.” 

“Sounds posh,” Robin commented.

“Yep and a cunt,” 

She snorted with laughter and he joined in for a moment before continuing, “People had seen them together.” He let out a deep breath, “Stephen saw them together.”

“Right,” Robin said sadly, her brother would only have told Cormoran if he was absolutely certain it was true. 

“He’d better check his car hasn’t been bashed and scratched as well,” Cormoran laughed before putting a hand to the scratches she had left on his face. 

Robin hesitated for a moment her hand hovering over his nearest leg, she thought better of it and sat on the offending hand, “Come on,” she nodded towards the door.

“I’m not in the mood for the party anymore Robin,”

“I’m not talking about the party,” Robin said.

A few minutes later they were stood in the barn the family used as a garage for the old Land Rover.

“You can’ drive that,” Cormoran had started to turn away back towards the house.

“Why not?” 

“It’s dark and I’m half cut,”

“Both are irrelevant to me, come on,” Robin was already sat in the driver’s seat and she closed the door before turning on the engine.

Cormoran’s experiences with female drivers had not been great. The, mostly, erratic or anxious and panicky rides he had taken with his aunt or with Charlotte had left him with a prejudice against female drivers. Robin had done nothing but show him kindness though. Surely, he could humour her this once. 

But, Robin had already read his mind, “Don’t tell me you don’t think I can do it because I’m a girl,”

“Did I say that?” he tried to act affronted.

“Better not, I get enough of it from my brothers,” and with that they were off.

She drove for a few minutes away from the village and the family house along the lane until she pulled into an opening to a gate. Turned to look at Cormornan Robin said, “Well? Make yourself useful, open the gate!” she laughed at his perplexed face. 

This quickly changed to intrigue and he smirked, stepping down to the ground. He watched her drive through the gate he held open and confidently into the field then looked around into the darkness. Getting arrested wasn’t ideal for a trainee soldier but they seemed completely alone out here. 

Robin sat with the engine idling as the passenger door opened. She watched Cormoran as he climbed back into his seat.

“You’re sure we won’t get into trouble for being here,”

“It’s my uncle’s field Lance Corporal,” she smirked.

“Okay. Let’s see what you’ve go- ” Before he could finish she was off and he grabbed the bar on the roof with one hand and held on to Robin’s headrest with the other.

Robin picked up speed as she drove diagonally across the field. The lights picked out tyre tracks in the dirt. Someone, probably Robin, had clearly been practising. Near the corner of the field she gripped the handbrake and dipped the clutch before pulling the handbrake hard as the car swung round. They both leant in towards each other as the force tried to push them apart. Then the car was straight again and Robin released the clutch smoothly driving off again in a straight line. 

Cormoran looked at her in surprise. “Can you do a J-turn?” he almost gushed and Robin began to accelerate.

Another hour or so later they were both laughing hard and squashed close together as Cormoran had just instructed Robin through a drift which had come to stop. Robin watched Cormoran’s face change almost completely when he grinned, his dark eyes glinting in the light cast by the vehicle and her laughter died. She hadn't thought of him as attractive before. 

Cormoran’s laughter stilled as he took her in, she looked ethereal in the moonlight, “I know you didn’t ask for this. Looking after me while I’m pathetically broken-hearted.”

“Are you? Broken-hearted I mean?” She said, her voice just above a whisper, “I've not had so much fun since -” she broke off again with that same tortured expression Cormoran had seen more than once tonight.

His eyes drifted to her full mouth. Only a while ago she had been upset that her boyfriend had forgotten to text her. Now her mind seemed to be full of another great weight. To lean toward her would be a bad idea.

“I’d be less so if we tried that again,” he averted his eyes from her pretty face to the dirt flecked across the windshield. 

Robin shook herself as if trying to wake herself out of a stupor. She took off again. Until she saw something human flash in front of them. This time she used the defensive driving skills for real to avoid a lethal collision. Cormoran grabbed her, his arm around her back with his hand gripping her shoulder as they spun away. When the vehicle stopped. He jumped out of the passenger seat and whirled around looking into the darkness for the figure they had just seen. Surely Charlotte wouldn’t have been out here. A light swung across the field. Robin walked around the side of the vehicle with a torch. 

“Oh God!” she breathed.

He turned around to where the torch illuminated a partially clothed girl, trying to pull her sweater around her to hide her nudity. Her face and body were streaked with tears and smears of mud and blood as she hobbled towards them barefoot. 

“Call the police!” Cormoran said to Robin as he began to rush towards the figure.


End file.
